Alpine teachers' salaries to be cut

ALPINE  A decline in state funding because of lower enrollment and escalating costs for health benefits were reasons given by trustees from the Alpine Union School District board when they voted 5-0 on Tuesday to cut salaries and benefits of Alpine district teachers.

The district employs almost 100 teachers, all of whom will be affected financially at different levels with the cuts starting at the end of January, according to Alpine Teachers Association President Gayle Malone.

After 14 months of what district Superintendent Tom Pellegrino called "good-faith negotiations without coming to an agreement with ATA," the district unilaterally implemented salary and health benefit terms. Starting in January, Alpine teachers will take a permanent 7.85 percent salary cut and the district will pay a maximum of $8,000 toward the cost of health-care benefits. Currently the average the district pays in health benefits is $13,500.

An impasse in contract negotiations was declared by the district in April and certified by the state Public Employee Relations Board. A "last, best and final offer" by the district was rejected by the ATA in August 2013 after a mediator intervened. A fact-finding report that became available publicly earlier this month included seven recommendations, but still no agreement was reached.

The teachers said the cuts will be significant for their families.

"Before the imposition, Alpine Teachers Association leaders estimated that nearly half the chapter’s 91 members stood to lose as much as 32 percent of their overall compensation," California Teachers Association spokesman Bill Guy said. "With many members with full family coverage now scrambling to decide whether to change their health insurance plans to single coverage, the exact losses are in flux. But all full-time teachers stand to lose somewhere between $1,400 and $1,600 per month, beginning with their January 31, 2014 paycheck, if the imposition stands."

In an open letter sent to the Alpine community dated Dec. 10, Alpine Union School District Trustees Eric Wray, Glenn Dickie, Gina Henke, Joseph Perricone and Tim Caruthers said "The Board is determined to live within its means; this means curtailing spending by $1.35 million on an annual basis. " The board noted that "the cost of salary and benefits is unsustainable at the current expense levels (87 percent of expenses) and must be reduced significantly. "

Malone said that Alpine teachers are looking for "a reasonable settlement" that could be reached before the pay cuts are to begin Jan. 31. Malone has been a teacher since 1971 and has been with the Alpine district for 28 years. She said she is frustrated with the lack of negotiations with the district.

"They're treating us with contempt," Malone said. "People will be losing their houses because of this. Some are driving 1990s cars that are falling apart and they can't repair them. Kids will go uninsured. Some teachers will be losing $1,600 a month."

In a November email sent out to Alpine residents and teachers titled "Alpine Union School District Fiscal Facts," Pellegrino said the district's enrollment has declined by 434 students since 2006-07, "equating to an ongoing revenue loss of $2,175,208 each year." The average daily attendance in 2012-13 was 1,784; this year it is 1,710. Projections are 1,660 students in average daily attendance in 2014-15.

Alpine teachers on average earn $72,318 per year in salary in 2013-14, Pellegrino said. Teachers in the district rank third highest of 13 comparable school districts in total compensation, he said, and the average "total cost for teachers" is $94,180, a figure that includes wages, health benefits, mandatory contributions to retirement, Medicare, workers compensation and unemployment.

The district, Pellegrino said, spent $1.7 million on health benefits last school year from its $14.2 million operating budget.

Guy said that out of 43 San Diego County districts, Alpine teachers "are next to last in salary," and that Alpine teachers have made salary concessions over the past several years, including accepting salary cuts in the early 2000s "under the promise that doing so would protect health care — benefits the district is trying to slash now."

Guy said that during the 2009-10 school year, Alpine teachers "not only shouldered cuts totaling 4.73 percent, but also accepted cutting the school year to 178 days, with additional resultant loss of pay" and that several years ago, Alpine teachers accepted "doubling their health insurance co-pays."

In the district's negotiations and budget update from May it was noted that school board, superintendent, management, site principals and confidential employees are taking a 7.73 percent reduction in salary and had a $8,000 cap placed on district contributions to health benefit premiums effective July 1, 2013, mirroring the written offer to Alpine Teachers’ Association and California School Employees Association.

"We have taken unilateral action to avoid a certain bankruptcy in the future," Pellegrino said. "The action has significant negative effects on all employees, including members of ATA. We recognize their frustration with this action, and we are hoping that they understand the severity of the crisis we are facing and support us as we work to establish financial stability in an era of declining resources."

Based on current contract language, the district would be bankrupt early next school year, Pellegrino said, and noted that the chief business official for San Diego County Schools, Lora Duzyk, told the board she agreed with their conclusions, Duzyk stated that the district "must make long-term changes to salary and benefits to survive the ongoing effects of the reductions to education funding and declining enrollment. "